A Bookworm's Take on Lightning and Steel
by youxcan'txstop
Summary: Her problems that night started with an unwanted love letter and ended with two severally pissed off Dragon Slayers -One a bit more drunk than the other-. Let's see if the Bookworm can figure out the two most confusing men she's ever met. Lev/Gaj slight Lev/Lax EDITING IN PROGRESS.
1. What Does Comfort Mean To You?

**A/N  
>I'm going back and editing these before I do an update. For new readers this is cannon up until the end of the Tenrou Island arc. I released this story during that time and guessed that they would make it back without a time skip and with Purehito still alive. <strong>

**So for all intents and purposes, this becomes AU after Erza's fight with Azuma. **

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><p><strong>Ch1. What Does Comfort Mean To You?<strong>

"Oh my god." Levy groaned. Her hand found its way into her blue hair. "I don't have time to deal with this."

"Aww, it's not that bad!" Lucy said lightly patting the smaller girl on her back. "I mean, he showed me the letter. It was really…cute."

"But I barely even know him!" Levy whined. She looked up at her blond friend and blushed. "I was his partner for a day and all of a sudden he's saying he'd do anything for me. That makes no sense." She said softly, trying to control her reaction.

"Maybe he's just shy and never said anything before?" The heir to the Heartfilia fortune offered, bending down. She took the slip of paper that was tossed from the petite girl's hands and straightened the crumpled edges. "Well," she offered scanning over the carefully written scrap again "He thinks you're really pretty. He mentioned it three times in this sentence alone." she said laughing a bit and ruffling up the girl's wavy hair. "You know you can't really avoid him, I mean you are stationed to help out at the C block of the Guilds Festival today."

Levy let out a low whine through her nose "And it would be just my luck that his next shift isn't until tomorrow?"

"Mhmm." Lucy hummed folding the paper and placing it in Levy's hands. "And that gives Max Alors alllll day" she continued in a sing-song voice "to stalk you all through the festival." she said twirling around the blue haired girl and skipping over to a couple white boxes labeled 'fish'.

'Why, today of all days?' Levy thought looking up, seemingly through the ceiling and straight into the face of the entity that convinced Max that asking her out was a good idea "You're a horrible person." she muttered cursing them.

Lucy sneezed from behind her.

"Well," Lucy sniffed rubbing some of the imaginary dust from her nose "You can always go to the stall Erza made." Lucy grabbed one of the boxes. "I mean it is really out of the way but you'd be a lot less noticeable there than at Mirajane's maid café."

"Do you think she'll be angry if I don't show up?" Levy asked.

"Nah," Lucy said smiling, "Lisanna and Elfman volunteered to help out as servers!" she said giggling.

'Oh god' Levy thought, picturing Elfman in a tiny maid's outfit bursting at the seams "Just like him" her girlish laugh filled the room as she stood up to grab one of the white boxes.

"Mhmm," she hummed, leading her blue haired friend out of the storage room and through the streets filled other mages. "And I heard Mira convinced him to stay because of Evergreen."

"Yeah?" The script mage asked picturing the cold fairy mage. Evergreen had always seemed cold to her. "Doesn't Evergreen hate Elfman?" Levy said thinking of the harsh words she spat at him on a regular basis.

"Well," Lucy said turning straight into a small corner and going through a suspicious looking door labeled _'Caution: Erza at work.'_ "Mirajane has it in her head that if the two of them are left alone for more than an hour they'll make some mutant baby. So she set him up to stay with her all night."

"Oh." Levy chirped straining to see the ground in front of her "Why is it so dark in here?" she mumbled trying not to knock in to her friend.

"It's part of Erza's stand." Lucy said stopping and kicking something three times before a muffled voice called out for a password.

Lucy sighed and straightened up her back. "The password is Shoo Bi Doo Bup." She sang. A door opened up from in front of her.

"Ah" A pleased voice said "I am glad, Lucy." Erza said ushering them into the narrow street. A simple wooden table was set beside the door they had just came from. A single chair was pushed in to the "You remembered my favorite song." she said giving her a confident nod of the head. "I see you've brought a volunteer." she said her eyes peering at Levy's slightly nervous form.

"Haha. No." Lucy said bluntly, setting her box on the table. "Levy and I will stand in the ally. You, Natsu, and Gray are the only ones who are supposed to be participating in this house of death thing." She said jerking her thumb back at the room they'd just left.

Erza hummed and rubbed her chin. "Natsu is busy getting Happy to advertise. I believe Gray is getting his friend Leon to make him a companion so he may participate as well." Erza looked over at the two girls. A friendly, dangerous smile spread upon her lips. "You know you can participate as well with one of your summons Lucy. I'd suggest Plue, he is by far your strongest." Erza said pointing at his key which sat at Lucy's hip.

Lucy gave her a horrified look covering Plue's key with her hand. "Are you crazy? You'd murder Plue the second he gets out there!"

Erza gave her a piteous look. "It shames me to see what little faith you hold in your most powerful summon." She said gravely turning to the blue haired mage. "What about you McGarden?" Erza asked her eyes bright again at the possibility of a new challenger. "Do you have any sort of animal companion?"

Levy shook her head in a negative. "I specialize in solid script and runes. I haven't studied summoning scripts yet." she said frowning and making a mental note to look up some books on it after the festival was over. "Sorry Erza."

"It's fine." she said shaking her head and getting a determined look on her face. "I guess I can keep up training Edel until he can stand up to Plue." she said clearly not listening to anything Lucy had just said.

"Why exactly do you need a companion for?" Levy asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Glad you asked," Titania said excitedly, a familiar sparkle gleaming in her eye. "I have set up a training exercise for mages and their partners, animal of course, to see if they are the best duo around." she said grinning like there was no tomorrow.

"Interesting." Levy said looking at her peer. "But what's with the boxes of fish?"

"Those boxes are the coveted prize for beating me." She said oozing confidence. "Happy assured me that all participants would be clamoring for this prize."

"That totally makes sense," Levy reassured getting a final nod of approval from Erza before she left to get the last of her attraction set up. "…If you're a cat."

Levy sighed.

"I don't understand how someone so smart can be so dense sometimes."

"I know what you mean." Lucy said, eyeing Levy with a knowing look and suggestive smile.

"What?" Levy asked her face burning red at the knowing smile splaying across her friend's face. "Get over your silly perversions, Max is-"

Lucy leveled a sly look at her, a Cheshire grin breaking out across her features. "Right! I was talking about Max." She turned and crossed her arms over her chest.

Levy just sighed opting to let it go. "So...what can I do to help?"

"Hmmm," Lucy mumbled running a hand through her blond hair. "I think you should advertise. Go along writing flashy script to lure people in. Even if they just show up to watch we can charge admission."

"But, ummm…"

Levy knew the more time she spent wandering around, the more opportunity Max had to find her. Her gaze lowered, she resigned herself to her fate.

"You know what," The blond started, almost as an afterthought. "I'll summon Gemini and have them run around the fair for a while disguised as you. If they copy your abilities you won't have to go!" Lucy stated matter-of-factly, smiling at her friend.

"That way Max will follow them instead of me. Lu you're a genius!" Levy exclaimed tossing her thin frame against the more voluptuous blond.

The Heartfilia heir moved more of the boxes and began taking out Gemini's key "I am linked to the path to the world of Celestial Spirits, now! O spirit, answer my call and pass through the gate!" he said engulfing the narrow street they were on in the pale golden light of her summoning "Gemi" she said smiling and rubbing the head of the left twin spirit "Mini" she sighed, bending down and holding both of them in her arms

"Can you guys do me a favor?" she asked seeing them nod their heads "I want you two to walk around the festival looking like her and casting pretty script advertising where our attraction is" Lucy said softly, pointing towards Levy "But don't talk to anyone," she said waving her hand around haphazardly "After you're done you can come here for some fish before going back to the spirit world" she promised eliciting excited yelps from the twins.

Levy giggled, the cute alien-like spirits were dancing and floating around in the air. "I guess Erza was right on some level, even your spirits are a fan of first prize." She said as the two floated over to her letting their wispy arms pass over her hands and cheeks.

"Hiya!" the mirror image of Levy stated winking suggestively.

"Oh, they're good." Levy said in approval, nodding at the two. Until they began pulling down their shirt and exposing 'her' chest. "Ah-what-why are you guys-stop it!" Levy mumbled franticly trying to cover her amused impersonator's chest.

Lucy nudged Levy out of the way settling a firm gaze at her summons "Now Gemini, don't make me tell Loke you've been bad again." She said firmly, seeing the fake Levy frown at her, as she fixed her shirt. "Good. Now, if you complete your mission without flashing anyone I'll give you whichever fish you want." She said as they scurried off towards the distant sound of people.

"They're a handful." Levy mumbled passing a hand over her face

"It was worse when I first summoned them. They went through this whole rebellious faze where they mimicked Elfman, Natsu, and Mystogun for a whole week." she said pulling a banner and taping it to the front of their wooden table "Everyone got used to the twins impersonating them and knew not to trust it when they heard of random Fairy Tail members walking around nude." She said tapping a finger lightly on her chin "Everyone except Juvia, who flipped when she saw Gajeel with her beloved Gray-sama." Lucy sighed, shivering at the memory. "Of course they were just Gemi and Mini's versions."

Levy laughed "But doesn't Gray usually run around with no clothes on? He is an exhibitionist." She said patting her deeply disturbed friend on the shoulder "It's fine now, Juvia calmed down enough to listen after you had 'Gray' glomp her."

"Yeah," Lucy mumbled rubbing her shoulders in an attempt to remind herself that Juvia did not, in fact, make good on her promise to destroy the evil demons and their summoner. "I'm gonna go get some markers to decorate the banner a little. Feel free to use your script to liven up the place." she said entering the door and leaving Levy in the dismal ally

"Alright," Levy mumbled to herself, cracking her knuckles 'Some light fireworks maybe.' she thought to herself, looking up at the closely encroaching brick walls. 'Yeah, hundreds of them, only tiny' she thought imbuing her imaginings with her magic, a pale green circle engulfing the air above her

"Pretty." She mumbled to herself, seeing a myriad of fly sized sparking words spreading out and hanging haphazardly around the ally. She reached to touch one of her solid scripts and felt a comforting warmth before it flared up then faded out of existence.

Levy sighed pulling out a chair from behind the table and sitting on it, mumbling to herself about having to make new ones soon. She closed her eyes waiting for Lucy to come back.

"Hey," a breathy voice called placing a heavy hand on her shoulder. "What's a pretty girl like you doing all alone in a place like this?" The stench of alcohol invaded her nose.

Levy froze.

"Whattsah matter?" The drunken mage slurred, moving to stand in front of her. "Happy got your tongue?" He asked snickering at his own joke.

Levy let the breath she had been holding go, leaned her head back, and pressed her hands against the chest of her invader. "Laxus you're drunk." she said attempting to push him away and only succeeding in tipping her own chair back into the ally wall "And what are you doing here?"

"Nothing." The blond bit out gruffly looking down at the younger girl's hands as if fascinated her small limbs could hold him off. "Just wondering if a bored looking girl wanted me to liven up her night?" he looked at her through clouded blue eyes

Levy sighed. 'So, he's still upset about his dad's death.' She looked at him, pity gleaming in her eyes. She had been the one he confided in, finding a stranger to hold his confidence. She had kept her silence, although they had not developed a close friendship. He did begin acknowledging her, and she lost her fear of him. "Look if you need to talk I'll listen," She said smiling at him "But you're gonna have to back up." She said gently shoving against his chest.

"I don't wanna talk," he said in an almost whiney tone "I just want to forget." he said pressing a fist against his head.

Levy's expression softened. "What happened?" She inquired tilting her head, blue hair falling in waves around her face. "Talk to me. I can help you."

Laxus's eyes followed the tumble of her hair "Help me Levy," his drunken slur taking on a sharpness, his eyes turning hungry. "Help me forget…" He mumbled out pressing his forearm to the wall directly by her head. His lips ghosted over the skin under her jaw "…everything." He pleaded, covering her in the overwhelming scent of vodka and burying his head into her shoulder. She felt something warm and wet along the back of her earlobe. One hand went to her ever present headband, tugging it off. The other slid around her hip, easily covering the curve of her body with the palm of his hand.

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><p>I will be editing this and From Iron To Fluff before making updates. But updates will come, just be patient.<p>

Also, reviews remind me that someone else likes this story besides


	2. Reward for a Winner

Look look, I updated the same day! WHOOOOO! (This sure as hell is the fastest I've ever written) And I'm so Excited, I've also decided I have an uncontrolable love for Pantherlily, and have thus decided to include him...more likely than not it will be quite often

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><p><strong>CH2<strong>  
><strong>"Reward for a Winner"<strong>

Levy froze. _Again._

She only vaguely recognized a figure of some sort drawing up behind Laxus and dragging him off of her by the legs and roaring something indiscernible to her ears

Something was shaking her, trying to lift her from her seat

"Little one" A gruff voice said patting the top of her head "you alright?"

Levy just nodded her head mutely feeling a pair of rough hands haul her from her seat

"Listen Sparky" the dark haired mage groundout anger imbued into his every word "I don't care if you're drunk or on your death bead, if you ever lay one of your fucking claws on her again I promise I'll shred you into so many little pieces not even Wendy's god damned magic will put you back to-fucking-gether"

Levy's eyes refocused as she processed what just happened

Laxus's expression of need and confusion slowly shifted into his trademark scowl "Why the fuck should I give a shit? S'not like you can take me anyways" he said cockily bracing himself against the brick wall behind him "We all remember-"

"Silence!" Levy shouted invoking two of her solid scripts to cover the other mages

Both of their heads swiveled to her, irked.

"Gajeel go inside" Levy said looking down the alley and seeing Gemi and Mini followed by Pantherlily walking towards them "I'll be there in a second" she reassured, hearing a huff from her latest guild partner before she heard him slam the door roughly, the spirits and Pantherlily running in behind him

"Laxus" Levy said, looking at him angrily "Go find Fried" she commanded, peering at him "He'll take you home, and from now on don't come talk to me when you've been drinking" she said firmly looking down at the floor her fists clenched "Never ask me for 'that' sort of help again" she ground out her voice going low "I am not a whore" she said disappearing into the door

Levy turned to Gajeel and raised her fingers "Disperse"

Gajeel looked at her and ran a hand through his thick mane of hair "Was I interrupting something you-"

"No" Levy mumbled looking towards the door where Laxus no doubt still sat, disoriented. "He was looking for comfort, a type of comfort I'm not willing to provide" she said sighing and shaking her hands through her hair 'this is gonna be embarrassing the next time we meet'

"Oh" Gajeel said dumbly looking away from her and scratching the back of his neck he seemed to mumble something, and Levy twirled to face him, looking up at her fellow mage who stood almost a full foot taller

"How did you know where…?"

"The you that was running around didn't smell like you" Gajeel admitted grudgingly looking down at his cat

"He sent me to find out who and why someone was impersonating you" Pantherlily stated calmly "While he went to try and find you to see if you were alright" he said crossing his small arms and peering at the two spirits who were digging into one of the boxes of fish "Turns out it was just these two"

Levy smiled at him, used to his protective nature since they'd occasionally go on missions together "Oh. Thank you Gajeel-kun" she said her expression turning serious "But please, don't mention what you saw to anyone" she said biting her lip 'I'd hate for Jet and Droy to know and confront him…'

Gajeel blinked at her, his body lurching forward a bit, as he began saying something

"Oh" Lucy squealed dropping her markers "Gemini I said one fish each, if Erza finds out she'll skin me alive!" she hollered at them running to grab her spirits

Gajeel's expression schooled back into its usual expression of haughtiness "Where the hell have you been cheerleader?" he said shaking his head and grinning madly "Me and Pantherlily wanna challenge Scarlet and her piece of shit bird"

Lucy pursed her lips at him finding something off "Yeah go ahead, it'll be another 10 minutes but then you and the other contestants will battle in a free for all, winning team gets all the fish" she said watching him with silted eyes as he left to join the other combatants

"Did something happen? Gajeel hasn't been that rude, to Erza at least, since he first transferred" Lucy said seeing her friend chewing on the inside of her cheek "…did that something involve you?" Lucy asked an expectant smile bursting out across her face as she started bouncing up and down

Levy seemed to decide something and looked at her friend "I don't…want to talk about it" she decided, not wanting to mention Laxus for fear of punishment when he is sober for blabbing

The excited look melted from her face. She stilled and nodded in understanding, as the twins walked up to Levy and hugged her legs

'How sweet' Levy thought placing a hand on top of both of their heads 'they're trying to comfort me' she though smiling at them

"She is embarrassed that the blond one made a move on her" Mini said shaking his head and dancing out of the way when Levy stood up and tried to step on him "She did not expect him"

"She feels guilty" Gemi said floating out of Levy's reach when she tried jumping for it "She trusts the 'Blacksteel', but cannot tell him the secret"

Levy grew angry "you little…deceitful….Martians!" she yelled trying to inflict silent on the two. Apparently Celestial Spirits were immune. Levy growled at them vowing to learn restraining scripts for sentient beings 'Maybe there's one that'll send them back to the spirit world altogether'

"We touched 'Blacksteel' he was upset and confused" Gemi said nibbling on a piece of fish

Mini nodded gravely, chewing on a fin "He didn't like him touching her" he said looking at Levy "He wa-"

"Gemini!" Lucy said snapping out of it and looking at them angrily "Stop it, you're being…well mean, and I don't like it" she said seeing them both frown at her

"We're sorry, we just wanted you to know what you wanted to know" they said in tandem

Lucy shook her head and frowned at them "As punishment you'll go back to the spirit world before you can grab anymore fish" she said stubbornly seeing them nod at their dismissal, fazing back to their world

"I'm so sorry" Lucy said bowing to her friend in apology "Please forgive me"

Levy just sighed "It's alright, I just don't want what happened to get around" she said frowning "He'll never forgive me if it does"

Lucy peered up at her "You don't have to answer if you don't want too, but is 'he' Gajeel?"

Levy looked uncomfortable, weighing her options 'if I tell her this then it'll eventually lead to me having to explain about Laxus and then I'll lose my right to his trust' Levy looked at her blond friend and shook her head 'No. Lucy will understand if I can't tell her something if I just say it's not my secret to tell'

"No"

She stated honestly hearing the muffled voice of Erza welcoming her challengers

"I'll fill you in during the fight" Levy said pulling her friend into the door that lead to the audience seating. The arena was a very large warehouse, completely black save for the thin bit of moon light that was filtering down, for the roof was mostly gone. Before them was an ice barrier Gray had to have made before the start of their battle to protect the audience…which consisted of her and Lucy

Levy looked at the challengers, Natsu and Happy, Gajeel and Pantherlily, and Gray and one of Leon's ice animals. It seemed to be a Pegasus of some sort, and it was restlessly pacing beside him. Seizing up its competition. They all had their eyes trained on one another, except for Gajeel, whose eyes kept straying back to their audience, clearly distracted.

Erza was in the air peering down at her opponents from above the building, her Black Wing Armor equipped so that she could fly. Her vaguely vulture-like bird, Edel, was perched atop her left shoulder flexing his wings and grumbling something about how ice made him nervous.

"You know the rules, if your partner is unable to battle you're disqualified" she said uncrossing her arms "Ready? Set." Erza said drawing her sword and grinning madly at the others. Edel let out a shriek of excitement "Go" she screamed lunging for Gray's partner and managing to lop off the end of one of its wings Gray just grinned as the ice returned to the wing, he ignored Erza and climbed onto the winged horse heading for Edel who was circling over head of Happy

Pantherlily was holding down Happy in his chibi form while Natsu and Gajeel ambushed Erza

"So…there was something you wanted to tell me.." Lucy said staring at the others playing their deadly game and mumbling"all this just for some fish?"

Levy let out a breath watching Gray chase the bird around in the sky for a bit longer "Laxus and I are…well I am someone he trusts" she stated awkwardly not know how to define their relationship "Gajeel is my friend, I'd trust him with my life" she said seeing Erza break from the cluster fuck of fire and iron roars directed at her

"I've long forgiven Gajeel for his offences against me, the guild" she said seeing Erza take flight "recently I've forgiven Laxus too." She said her eyebrows knitting together "I don't know if me being there for him means something else to him than it does for me, or if the fact that he was drunk made the decision for him to look for another sort of 'comfort' in me" she said quieting for a few seconds when Erza knocked Gray off of his horse, dissipating the chucks of ice that were forming on Edel's wings. The Pegasus flew back for him catching him before he hit the ground

Lucy nodded sagely at her friend absorbing her words "Laxus, right?" she asked to be sure, and received a nod.

"I just…" Levy trailed off for a second her eyes fixed on Gajeel who seemed more vicious than normal as he and Salamander traded blows "I am confused about his actions"

Lucy followed the bother girl's stare finding it trained on the Iron Dragon Slayer "Still Laxus, right?" Levy simply watched her through the corners of her eyes. Lucy bit her lip looking like she wanted to say something. "Well…" Lucy began seemingly deciding on something and licking her lips "While it is true that the haze of alcohol makes people do things they regret it is also known as the elixir that gives people the courage to do things they normally wouldn't have the courage to do under normal circumstances" she said inhaling, shaking her head and letting out her breath

Levy digested her words seeing Natsu pull away from Gajeel long enough to aim his fire at Gray, melting his horse and disqualifying the ice mage. Erza Flew down to the dragon slayers slashing the earth between them, while Edel began screeching before a small puff of mist formed around him.

"Wow" Lucy mumbled, her eyes trained on the bird, clad in iron from beak to talon as it darted from its cloud of mist toward the flying cats "She taught him Re-quip magic…I wonder if he's got more than one armor" she questioned aloud seeing its claws extend and flex, poised to ravage Happy's wings

Levy and Lucy both sucked in breaths in horror of what might happen to the relatively defenseless Exceed. There was an angry roar and suddenly Pantherlily was in his true form flinging Happy out of the way and taking the brunt of Edel's attack at his left arm

"Natsu's disqualified" Lucy acknowledged seeing Happy knocked out from the force of Pantherlily's quick save.

"Natsu" Edel yelled loud enough for Salamander to hear "Happy is out, and so are you" it laughed staring down Pantherlily. Natsu breathed out a miffed spout of angry fire, leaving his sparing of Erza and Gajeel to collect Happy.

"I see your master has taught you her brand of magic" Pantherlily commented, his booming voice reaching around the area

"In this form Titania refers to me as Edelmetall" it said seeing Pantherlily's rounded ears twitch, a small smile breaking out on the humanoid's face "I'd appreciate it if you'd do the same"

"As you wish, Edelmetall" he said respectfully drawing his claws and flying towards his rival, claws clashing and sparking where they met metal tipped talons

'Well whatever the reason for Laxus's..outburst, I'll know for sure if it was intentional the next time I see him' she thought seeing Pantherlily intentionally take a hit to catch Edelmetall by the legs

"So what else happened, if anything?" Lucy fished, knowing there was more

"Gajeel came" she said, hearing Lucy's mouth snap closed with an audible 'pop' Lucy's eyes were staring straight ahead at the scene of Gajeel catching and devouring Erza's sword whole, her eyes bulging out of their sockets as she yelled at him about it being a Heart Kreuz original "He pulled Laxus off of me and threatened him." Pantherlily flew up to Erza and Gajeel (who were still arguing about her sword) presenting a futilely struggling bird held in Lily's arms. "He was protecting me" she admitted, feeling Lucy's eyes on her.

Erza grudgingly conceded defeat, requipping her usual outfit and holding out her arm for Edel to perch on, now without his metal coat. The others were walking towards them, Lily, now in his small form, was perched atop Gajeel's shoulder, both grinning madly. The others were sulking. _Especially_ **Happy**. Gray let the ice shield that surrounded the audience box dissipate

"That fight was amazing!" Levy said looking at Pantherlily's self-satisfied expression "Are you grinning like that because you won, or because you have a whole week's worth of fish?" she asked coyly seeing his happy yellow eyes trained on her

"A little of both" He offered jumping off his partner's shoulder and bounding over to the other room with the boxes of fish

"H-Hey!" Happy chirped following after his friend"Wanna share?"

Edel made a small noise and excused himself from the others saying something about making sure the blue Exceed didn't bother Lily too much before he went flapping after the other two

"That glutton probably just went to beg for fish like Happy" Erza laughed through her nose "Actually he's too proud to beg outright" she said laughing and waving a hand in front of her face.

She'd only had her partner for a few months, but was completely infatuated with Edel. She had received a mission to exterminate him, for he'd been stealing food from a small village for the last 15 years, but staunchedly refused after confronting him. He'd challenged her and she'd accepted, learning during the mock battle, he'd been the result of a mage mixing his own magical ability with that of a bird's, abandoned without purpose, much like she'd been, she offered to give him a home at the guild. He accepted. They've been inseparable since.

Levy smiled at her red haired friend "Edel and Lily have become great friends" she commented happily following the others as they slowly walked to the room where the others were

Gray Fulbuster simply huffed, still miffed at his disqualification "More like arch rivals" he commented dryly coming into the room with the others and seeing Lilly politely giving both the eagle/vulture hybrid and the teary looking cat an eye full of him munching on one of the fish from his seven boxes

"Gi Hi Hi Hi" Gajeel snickered, everyone having grown used to his creepy laugh at some point during his 9 months with the guild so far "Good Lily" Gajeel praised, walking over to his companion and scratching him behind the ear. A deep purring rumbled in Lily's chest and he continued to devour the contents of his boxes

"He's starting to take after Blacksteel here" Natsu said shaking his head and turning to Happy "Didn't wanna share?"

"No" Happy said, tears spilling forth "He said that he'd give me a fish if I could tell him a secret he doesn't know, because Pantherlily likes to hear secrets, and everyone I told him he said he knew!" Happy exclaimed

"Um Happy, how many secrets did you tell him" Levy asked, knowing, after going on a few missions with Gajeel and Lily, how deceitful he could be

"More importantly, which ones?" Lucy asked a little hastily…too hastily

"I told him everyone I knew!" he said outright sobbing "I even told him a few I made up! He still knew them all!" Happy whined making everyone sweat-drop

Levy cast Pantherlily a knowing glance to which he grinned toothily and proceeded to chomp into the side of another fish. Gajeel couldn't be prouder of his exceed. "Edel, what did he ask of you?" Levy asked seeing out the corner of her eye Lucy interrogate Happy on weather her secret was spilled

Edel looked to the side, ignoring the sound coming from his stomach "He wanted me to beg"

Gajeel was wrong. He could be prouder. He wrapped his arms around his cat and proceeded to squeeze the life out of his, as per usual for hugs between Fairy Tail members "Lily if you were my child I'd be a proud father" he proclaimed startling him and making him choke on a fishbone "Oh" he said patting his back and dislodging the bone, saving him from near death

Edel shifted, turning to face Erza "I am tired of this teasing, and I'm hungry" he stated deftly, his sharp orange hued eyes peering into her own brown ones

"Feeling a might _peck_-ish?" Erza asked laughing at her own lame joke. Edel and everyone just stared at her blankly "We can stop and grab something before heading home" she said after mumbling something about everyone not knowing funny when they heard it "I'm feeling like Takoyaki tonight" she said to Edel who landed on her armored shoulder as she began walking out "Are you coming?" she asked seeing the others gathering to follow her out "Let's make a challenge of this" she said happily stopping at the door "Last one there has to pay for everyone's meal?" she offered, promptly being run over by Natsu and Lucy

Levy just smiled and began jogging ahead to help Erza up "You know Erza" she said pulling the iron clad mage up to her feet "I think I'll head home" She looked at Gajeel "I've had a rather tiresome day, and I just wanna rest" Erza patted her on her back grandly, and said for her to be careful heading home before she began heading down to catch up with the others.

"Lily" Levy heard Gajeel's voice rumbled through the room "Do you need some help?"

"I've got the boxes" Pantherlily replied, gathering all of them in his arms after having transformed into his true form "I'll take them home" Lily started looking at the two of them "To be honest I'd like it if you Levy would let Gajeel escort you home. It's not safe for a girl to be wandering alone at night"

Levy smiled categorizing his concern under a brotherly love, Levy let Gajeel walk with her home, giggled when he stared down some random guys who commented on her cuteness while they walked to Fairy Hills, smiled when he made a remark about strangers not having respect, and chastised him when he commented on her smallness.

"You know Gajeel" Levy said, reaching the door to the Fairy Hills apartment complex "These past few months" she said her radiant smile peeking out from behind her smiling mouth. "You've become a very important person for me"

Gajeel stopped breathing.

"You've come to mean as much to me as Jet and Droy do"

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><p>*Fun Fact*<p>

Erza's first character design had her with a random bird, thingy as a partner and I wanted it incorporated into the story, and I decided to name it Edel (it's German for Noble) :O

(here's a link to the picture :P) http:/ fairytail . wikia . com/ wiki/ Erza _ Scarlet (just take out the spaces) it will be around the bottom.  
>and the next chapter will be in Gajeel's P.O.V (mostly..maybe) LOL<p>

I'm excited to see how he'll react to Levy comparing him to Droy and Jet XD  
><strong>REVIEW! Fairy Law commands it. <strong>


	3. Consequences of One's words

_***Squeals!* oh my god, I fuckin' LOVE whomever Too-Lazy-To-Sign-In is, and pledge my undying love AND this chapter for, by far, the BEST review I could ever ask for. Mystery reviewer, I salute you. And dedicate the following scenes of a tormented Gajeel to thy. Enjoy :]**_

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><p><em><strong>"Consequences of One's words...and the Lack There Of"<strong>_

"_You've come to mean as much to me as Jet and Droy do"_

The sick twisted little fact sat there, festering in his brain, rotting every thought he ever had and would ever have.

"I need to kill something" he growled out. Morphing his arm into a spiked mace and sending it though a nearby tree, an action which he repeated…13 times.

He made a strangled noise of frustration. 'Why the Fuck is she .SO…' he tried to think a way to describe Levy. The words she'd said last to him echoed again in his mind decaying his sanity a bit more. He narrowed his eyes choosing to leave the pile of splinters behind in favor of driving 12-inch spikes of Iron into the concrete as he walked 'Comparing me to those two twat boxes with legs' he raved mentally 'I could castrate them for what she said' he thought mentally, enjoying his own personal mind theater of the two useless members of Shadow Gear alone with him, two operating tables, and a few box cutters.

"GRAHHH" Gajeel let loose and unholy pterodactyl-like roar full of angst and pent up rage "What the fuck" he stared down at his right foot, the offending limb obviously causing him more trouble than it was worth. In his blind fury he'd morphed his entire foot into a spiked version reminiscent to that of Metalicana's. What used to be a functioning leg was now firmly in the center of a crater around 10 feet in diameter.

He growled concentrating on keeping his legs human for the rest of his walk home. 'How the fuck did she, of all people, came to the conclusion that I was anything like those useless donkey punchers' He pondered, actively keeping his magic in check 'At least I have a shot with her, those…' Gajeel stopped walking, realization dawning 'What if she was trying to tell me I'll be forever stuck in friendship purgatory' he thought in horror 'That can't be' he mentally argued to himself 'There is no way I'd fuck myself over like that' he interjected to his more rational side 'Of course I've set myself apart from those fools' he said holding up his fingers "I've saved her from dying _several_ times, and I got that bag of douche, Laxus, off of her too.." he mumbled to himself taking a left into a rather desolate area of Magnolia. "I even played mother-fucking-Teresa a month ago when she asked me to help some snot nosed brat get to Shirotsume town" He grumbled angrily. Stomping his way in to the home he and Lily shared.

"I even accept the stupid girl gifts she gives to me" he said thinking of the vase and flowers she'd so thoughtfully given to himself and Lily 'God now that I think about it, I was so caught up in the fact that she gave me damn flowers that I didn't even realize that yellow was the kind you give to let people down gently…or something like that' he thought nervously picking at his facial piercings, a habit few outside of Lily and Juvia have noticed "No that's not right, the stupid vase was for me and Lily got the flowers…I think…"

"If I remember correctly" Pantherlily said coming out from their shared room "She gave the vase and the flowers to the both of us, saying something about how we needed some color in our lives" he said looking suspiciously at the dragon slayer "Why are you wondering about something as trivial as that?" he asked seeing the other mage turn sulkily into the kitchen where a small table sat, a thin blue vase with yellow roses in the middle

"No reason" Gajeel supplied, turning and trying not to face his best friend "I was just trying to remember is all" he said, his inner self calming at Lily's reassurance.

The panther nodded his head solemnly walking over to Gajeel and pulling out a bottle of sake "I take it you were not bothered when you took Levy-chan home" he said pouring the drink into two cups and setting them on the table

Gajeel sniffed at his cat, knowing an ulterior motive when he smelled one "Not really, there were some punks along the way, but they ran wetting their pants when they saw who she was with" he said sucking down the contents of his cup while Lily sat patiently sipping his own 'I hate how he nurses these things, always leaves me a lot more drunk than him by the end of the day' he thought downing another cup of sake 'eh what the fuck, it's not like I don't do this on a regular basis anyways ' he thought setting down his cup and going straight for the bottle

Lily looked at Gajeel, surprised "Hitting the bottle a little hard today?"

"Not as hard as I hit that tree" Gajeel mumbled in satisfaction, pouring the contents of the bottle down his throat 'Mmm, I wonder if they make this stuff in steel flavor'

"What happened with a tree?" Pantherlily asked tilting his head at his partner

"Hmm on nothing just pummeled into a million tiny pieces" he said grinning 'Like I'll do to those two idiots one day'

"Why did you do that?" Lily asked seeing Gajeel sit there, just staring at the empty bottle of sake.

"…gimme some more and I'll talk"

Lily sighed hopping off the chair that was almost too tall for his small body and rummaging around the fridge"Will some beer do?"

Gajeel grunted, picking off the petals from one of the flowers 'Stupid flower was the way she decided to tell a man that sort of thing' Gajeel stopped, smashing a handful of the dried petals in his fist 'God damn it, I'm starting to sound like Elf-Bitch now'

Pantherlily tossed three beers on the table and began scouring the cupboards for something stronger "So was it the tree that pissed you off this badly?"

Gajeel moodily bit off the tops from all three bottles 'So that's what he's getting at' he thought sending the contents of two of the bottles down his gullet "Tequila's down there" he said pointing Lily in the right direction "And the damn tree isn't what got me pissed" he said frowning at his cat as he hauled up a bottle bigger than himself. Gajeel picked Pantherlily up and held him a few inches in front of his face "Drink with me Lily"

Pantherlily looked at his friend, a smile playing on his lips "You know I don't drink that often anymore"

Gajeel looked at the Exceed "You know the munchkin isn't here to tell you no" he offered pulling the bottle from the cat and serving him

Lily grinned sheepishly accepting the newly filled glass "I just got used to Levy-chan being around" he offered, Gajeel's eyes trained on him "Fine I'll drink with you" he said feeling the bitter concoction slide down his throat

"Good kitty" he heard his partner say "I'll let that one slide" Lily mumbled, already feeling the beginnings of a light blush on his face "So what has you so…upset?" Lily asked accepting another shot

Gajeel's happy, not-quite-drunk, expression soured "She…" a faint blush showed on his tanned skin, not entirely due to the copious amounts of alcohol he had ingested in the space of ten minutes "Do you think she sees me as only a friend?"

Pantherlily sat there in silence, absorbing what he'd said "Well, have you given her reason to see you as anything else?"

"Of course!" Gajeel said pounding his fist on the table "I've saved her from that traitor bastard Lax-ass" he said a drunken slur starting to take hold of his tongue "and those two guys she used to be partners with, you know, the two that sort of melted into one singular being that never stops bitching and moaning" he said waving his hand in a careless manner "Happened after we took care of that blow hard Hades and his gang of serial rapists-or something" he said ticking off two fingers for each 'point' he made

Pantherlily's eye twitched at his comment "Yeah I remember.." '..absolutely nothing about rapists being on the island while we went through hell and back…well, I suppose I didn't see what happened to him during his fight' he thought, taking another shot at the same time as Gajeel

"I even-hiccup-took that evil little fucker she let latch on to her to that stupid Shit-sume town just cause she asked-hiccup-me" he said growling and picking up some iron sheets he had lying around, munching on them "If that doesn't spell out 'I want you' please give me a-hiccup- fuckin book, maybe if I write it she'll read it"

"Okay" Lily said blinking owlishly at the completely empty bottle that sat between them "we're out of everything good" he said refusing to move while the room spun 'Did I always get smashed off of this little' he thought off handedly "But that's fine, you only start spouting the emotional stuff when you've past your limit" he mumbled seeing Gajeel make an unhappy face at the completely empty bottle "Did you ever think your actions aren't as clear to her" Lily said setting his head down at the table

"What the hell kinda-hiccup-logic is that?" Gajeel groaned out copying his cat's movements "Munchkin is the only person I do those sort of menial things for" he yawned "Besides you, but that's different-burp-you're my cat"

Lily sighed, feeling his stomach gurgle "Maybe you have to make your intentions clearer" he said regretting his choice in drinks since Gajeel had arrived 'I think he would have been just as gone if I'd given him sink water' he thought blearily

"All I know is that Imma-gurgle-need a fuckin miracle before that-hiccup-sexy minx will get it through her depressingly thick skull that I-hiccup-want her"

Lily nodded in agreement "Yep Levy-chan is the third most oblivious member of Fairy Tail, followed by Erza and then Natsu" he supplied "I could help you with that miracle you need" Lily offered hearing Gajeel mumble something incoherently before his snoring set in "I'll pretend that was a 'Do whatever the fuck you want'" Lily said to himself, before passing out completely

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><p>Okay, It's official, I've fallen in love with Gajeel's perseverance (whether or not it's futile…well…) I've decided to make this a LevGajeel story, with slight Lev/Laxus (Don't worry he'll be getting _someone _;P)

***Side note of randomness* Also review!**  
>I've been getting into the anime of Negima? And it's awesome, I'm a total NegiYue shipper ^.^ I think I'm gonna start reading the Manga (and I don't know what it is but I really don't want him to end up with Nodoka, I've sort of never really liked her much)


	4. A Plan of Action

_**I decided to split this from chapter 3 (felt like there was a more natural break there :P) Also, I just have my one class left on 20**__**th**__** of June then in 4 days I'll be going to Spain for 7 weeks whooohooo! (of course I still plan on updating there, so no worries :P) I'll probably be dealing with jet lag a few days after arriving and getting back to the states so, bare with me around those times :P**_

_**(Dude I just finished posting ch3…a little over 2 hours ago… I'm so proud of myself)**_

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><p>"<strong>A Plan of Action"<strong>

Gajeel _**Hated Him**__. _He decided twitching uncontrollably as he practically glared holes into the completely _fake_ and _embarrassing_ excuse for a dragon slayer and Fairy Tail mage.

There he was engaged in a perfectly suspicious conversation with the resident blue haired bookworm. Acting like it was perfectly normal. Like he deserved to be in her company. Hell Gajeel wasn't even sure if he himself even deserved to be around Levy after what he'd done to her, before he knew her.

But there was one thing he did know. Laxus would never deserve to be around her. Ever.

'But damnned be everything in Earthland if that spiky haired bastard didn't try' Gajeel thought remembering the day before when he'd woken with an unconscious Lily snuggled in his hair and a pounding hangover

After a few hours spent eating breakfast, a small pile of migraine pills, and taking a shower Gajeel took Lily with him while he went in search of Levy at the Guild Festival. Of course Lily said that he should just tell her, and so he listened to his best friend. He sought out the blue haired female, and, of course couldn't find her for the first hour and a half he was there.

"grah" Gajeel growled out shoveling a plateful of rice into his mouth and chewing vigorously as he pleasantly pictured every individual grain of rice as a screaming Laxus 'Mirajane's cooking seems strangely tolerable today' he thought feeling a delightful crunch as he chewed upon his fork, obviously hearing the sharp noises as the joyous sound of bones (more specifically Laxus's bones) breaking.

He knew his new found loathing of the Lightning mage went to a whole other level yesterday when he'd found Levy McGarden at the festival.

Of course, if he'd been there for the entire conversation, if he even truly cared what reason there could possibly be…he's sure it wouldn't have mattered, because either way, he hated everything about Laxus, the fact that he could be a possible threat just made that hatred intensify.

Sure it was one of the more innocent scenes he'd happened upon whist walking around empty alley ways, namely the night before, where he had seen nothing but Laxus's figure covering her's. The memory made him crazy with rage. But this one was different, and worse, in a way. He'd seen her, innocent hands aflutter, as she reached for and enveloped Laxus in one of those hugs he'd only received once. It wasn't one of the hugs she gave out like candy or even the kind she gave to Wendy or Lucy, it was definitely like the one she'd given him during the incident at Tenrou Island after he'd regained consciousness. It was something that promised things. And he hated that she was giving one to Laxus, of all people.

Gajeel took out the mangled fork from his mouth and began stabbing the old table

'And it's not like I could have taken out my fury by ripping off the failures' flesh, bit by bit either' he thought picturing the scene of the two together, again. It made him want to vomit truthfully. 'If I made a scene when she initiated something like that, and god forbid, hurt anyone she cared about, I'd be back at square one where she couldn't even handle being in the same fucking room as me' he thought stabbing through the corner of the table and breaking off a small chunk of wood from the table top

He stared at the chunk of wood that had fallen to the ground. He'd noticed it, that it was different from the rest of the wood because it had seperated from the rest of the table. 'it can't be...' he thought squinting at the block. It stood out when in reality it was the same chunk of wood that was always attached to this table '….No…it's that simple.'

'I need to be like this block' Gajeel thought, the cogs in his mind turning 'I cannot be like all those idiots that came before me' he thought, grinning manically at the slab of wood that sat helplessly on the floor 'I can't just tell her out right, that would be the same mistake everyone's been making' he thought chomping on a tin plate 'No, I have to be different' he thought a Cheshire grin blooming on his lips 'I have to be the one _she_ falls for first, before I say anything' he thought happily, imagining Laxus' head crushed between his boot and a bed of spikes 'This is how I'll win Levy's heart' he thought laughing manically for (seemingly) no reason 'I'll have Levy and that static bastard will wither into oblivion' "Gi Hi Hi HI"

**XXXxxxxxxXXX**

Pantherlily just turned to Mirajane "Do you get what I mean?"

"Yes, yes of course" she nodded solemnly "Gajeel really cares a lot about Levy-chan" she said giving him a mug filled with an unusually frothy beer "Of course I'll help you manipulate-I mean, give Gajeel and Levy a 'push' in the right direction"

"Good I'm counting on you" Lily said clinking his mug with her glass of wine "You know" he commented after a while of staring at the white haired mage "I'm surprised people only refer to you as the 'Demon' of Fairy Tail, I'd think a more appropriate name would be the 'Shadow Puppeteer'"

"Well" Mirajane said giggling while she wiped down some plates "Shadow Manipulator is what Cana sometimes refers to me as, I am singlehandedly responsible for all of the romantic relationships that have formed and broken up within Fairy Tail" She said smiling at him

Pantherlily nodded at her, bowing "I am sorry for not taking into consideration your powers of manipulation, remind me to reconsider a battle with you, should the situation arise"

"Oh Pantherlily stop it" she said waving her hand haphazardly at him "I only use 'that' if things are already set in motion, I just help speed up the process"

"Well in any case" Lily said downing his drink and placing it back on the bar "you will tell me if anything happens?" he received a nod and hopped off the bar stool, heading towards Gajeel who's began laughing, rather loudly, even for the people of Fairy Tail. (Seriously even Natsu and the gang were staring) Pantherlily just sighed, having long grown accustomed to his best friend's mental workings 'He's probably imagining someone's slow and painful demise' he thought grinning a bit at his human 'Crazy Sadist, bet most people think he's bat shit insane'

**xxxxXXXXXXXxxxxx**

"Gajeel" Lily greeted climbing up on the bench with him "What's so funny?"

"GI HI Lily" he said his red eyes shining, a complete 180 from what he looked like that morning "Lily I've figured it out!" Gajeel said happily pulling Lily into his lap and rubbing the top of his head "By the way" he said as he seemingly attempted to run a bald patch into Lily's fur "Where have you been?"

"Getting some beer" he answered casually, wisely choosing to leave out Mirajane's eminent involvement in this situation

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><p>Review! Please? I updated twice :D<p>

oh and your ideas for silly retarded things to happen at Fairy Tail would be appreciated :] (I have a few up my sleeve but new ideas are welcome)


	5. Books, Shirts, and Strawberry Cake

_**Ahhh soo, everyone send your love to Carprincess, she is wonderful and has officially accepted to be my Beta! Love her, I commandeth!**_

(lol, seriously though, she's great for pointing out the little mistakes, and is helping me put the finishing touches on a new Lev/Gaz story I'll soon be posting, so give her some thumbs up if you see her, she def. deserves it :P)

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><p><strong>Ch 5<br>"Books, Shirts, and Strawberry Cake"**

"She'll know something's up" Pantherlily said walking along the streets of Magnolia with his spiky haired companion "You've never given anything. To anyone. Ever." he said contemplating his words a bit then looking up at Gajeel "Well, besides broken bones and death threats" he said thinking of the mission they had just completed

Gajeel let a breath out through his nose "But this is different" he said, his sharp teeth making an audible snapping noise as he flexed his jaw "I need to get something _she'll _understand" he said as they passed through a part of Magnolia that Gajeel rarely walked in "If the pipsqueak'll only give books her attention" he said grinning down at the Exceed "Then I'll get her a book that tells her what she can't seem to understand"

The black exceed sighed nodding his head. Sure, it was possibly one of Gajeel's more insightful revelations, seeing as the bookworm was always seen with her nose buried in a tomb of some sort, but.. "Gajeel" Lily said slowly seeing the expectant look on his face "What sort of book are you planning on using to let her know?" he asked seeing Gajeel's trade mark devious grin take its place on his mouth 'My human probably only noticed she's a bibliophile because he borderline stalks her while we're at the guild' Lily thought suddenly brining a paw up to his face 'I really hope Levy does return his feelings, or else she's probably gonna have a stalker for life'

"That's where you come in" he said staring at the shops they were passing and stopping in front of a bookstore "You're gonna pick it out for me"

"Of course" Lily commented, pushing open the door and entering the shop "So what do you want this book to say?" he asked, feeling as if he were back in Edolas taking care of Coco

"Uh" The iron dragon slayer started grasping for something "You know…the stuff that happens in books" he said, finally deciding her answer was enough "And not the shit that goes down in those _'fantasy'_ books you read"

Lily blinked at him, his eyes going wide "How do you know what I..?"

Gajeel quirked the set of piercings that sat where an eyebrow would "I can read" he said turning his wrists around in a lazy fashion "I just don't particularly enjoy it" he said eyeing his cat and smirking "Especially not those cheesy sex novels you horde under the couch"

"They started off as gifts from Erza Nightwalker!" he defended "It's like fish, after you have one you need another"

Gajeel grinned down at Lily nodding his head "Hey, do you think she brought you those books for the same reason I'm getting one for Levy?"

Lily rolled his eyes "Bestiality?" Pantherlily scowled 'I wonder how your twisted little mind works if you automatically assume something as depraved as that' "Be serious" Lily said flatly, hearing a very Gajeel-esquke laugh echo through the dark shop

"Alright, alright" Gajeel said, his hand finding its customary place atop Lily's head "Will you find me a book then?"

Pantherlily's lips pursed as he took in his partner's words 'So he wants a book like the ones I read' Lily thought, a smile tugging at his mouth 'So this includes, almost exclusively, those cheesy romance novels' he thought turning on his heel and heading to one of the shadier corners of the store

"This?" Gajeel asked, looking skeptically at the cover of the book Lily wasw gingerly presenting to him _"A Bite of Lust?" _he said examining the cover and the back panel "This is one of those vampire books isn't it?" He commented pointing at the picture adorning the cover. Fanged teeth covering a woman's breast and the title was written in red 'This sorta shit sells?'

"Actually, the third one is about vampires, this one is a _werewolf_ romance fiction" Pantherlily said sniffing delicately, his tail swishing back and forth

"Yeah, yeah" Gajeel said tossing the smut onto the clearance pile "Fantasizes of some lonely old hag, I'm sure" he said seeing Lily's face scrunch up "I don't want to give her something like that" he said bending down to Lily's level and pushing his hair out of the way

"Take it back"

Gajeel's mouth twitched in amusement "Seriously?"

Lily continued to stare at him.

"Alright I take it back, Lonely old hags don't write down their fantasies" he said grinning as his cat lead him to another section entirely

"One of these" Lily said pushing two books to him "The one with the lake has a pair where the guy is more like you personality wise, but the one with sand would probably be best for the first book you give her. They're both pretty PG-13" 'Except for one or two scenes' Lily thought to himself smiling a bit

"I'll go with this one then" Gajeel said taking the one with falling sand on the cover with him to pay

"So" Lily started as they made their way to the guild "are you gonna plop it on the table when you see her, or wait for 'the right' moment" Lily asked quirking an eyebrow at his clueless friend

He peered down at the innocent looking paperback and shrugged "I'll probably just do what I always do"

"So, whatever the hell you feel like then" Lily supplied pushing open the guild doors and barely dodging a cake that had apparently missed its intended target.

"Lily, Gajeel-san" Mirajane greeted, polishing a cup while the other guild members were busy destroying everything in sight in another one of their bar fights

"Mirajane" Pantherlily said, dipping his head towards her and hearing Gajeel make a small grunt in acknowledgement.

"Welcome, ah, not to alarm you, Gajeel-sama, but Natsu-chan seems to have hit you with Erza's strawberry cake" she said smiling as a dark aura spread though out the building "She's a bit distraught since it was the last of the strawberry cake until Monday." She said giggling lightly as Natsu's bloody and unconscious body was flung into the wall behind them. An unusually thick amount of foam spilling from his mouth

"Oh shit." Gajeel mumbled, looking towards the secluded corner of the guild team Shadow Gear typically occupied 'What the hell is that loser Max Alwhores doing giving my shrimp chocolates' he thought, glaring at the pale boy who'd had his gift accepted by the blue haired mage just before Jet and Droy decided to take a swing at the encroaching male, forcing all three of them into ever growing bar fight.

"Completely oblivious" Pantherlily mumbled, hopping onto the bar stool "Oi. Gajeel" Lily said in a futile attempt to bring the dragon slayer beck to reality "Oh my human, how I'll miss thee" Lily said melodramatically, accepting the cup Mira slid to him

'I suppose those two dip shits have actually done something useful' Gajeel thought smugly, setting his stride to take him swiftly to the script mage who had her face buried in a large tome 'If this works, I might reconsider slaughtering them in their sleep'

"Hey, Gajeel-san! I'd run if I were you!" Mirajane called helpfully before the wrath of Titania was upon him, stripping off his shirt and in a motion a kin to a crack addict. Erza began licking her precious off the fabric, expression of bliss as she took what she could.

Somewhere from the rafters of the guild there was a screech that sounded more like a declaration of eternal mortification before an extra puffy Edel flew down to join Lily and Mira.

"Mhmm-straruberry-ngh-cake" Erza mumbled, as she feasted unabashed upon the floor, Gajeel's shirt clutched in her hands.

Gajeel gave her a slightly confused look 'Why the fuck is the queen of the hard asses stripping off my clothes?' he thought peering at her as she sat like a child upon the floor, cream and cake covering her face

"Oh Dear Gawd" a random guild member commented rather loudly from within the typical Friday brawl "Redfox is hot!"

Gajeel's red eyes slid from the appeased Erza to the female who had spoken. He'd seen her somewhere before, she had light brown hair and was dressed like a cat, ears and all 'Hmm' he thought seeing her blatantly gawking at his naked chest while continuing to punch some poor soul in the face 'Shirtless is sexy, eh? Can't argue with that logic' he thought, slowly grinning as he left his poor molested shirt with Erza 'Maybe I can use this to my advantage'

"Hedgehog" a gruff voice called out, pushing off the wall to his right "Where're you goin'?" Laxus asked, fiddling with his metal headphones

Gajeel felt his eye twitch 'Hedgehog? Unoriginal bastard' Gajeel thought feeling his grin turn into more of a sneer 'The idiot Salamander came up with that one first' "To see _**my partner**_" He said a haughty lilt on his tongue

Laxus's dark blue eyes narrowed as his face contorted into a sort of strained smile "Well, before you bother with that" he said reaching out an arm and ripping off the shirt of the nearest guild member. A terrified scream was heard and Lucy Heartfelia was seen running away from the two, clutching her bare chest "Here's something to cover yourself with, yeah?" he said tossing the fabric too the Iron dragon slayer, a surprisingly strong static charge forcing it to cling at his chest, lacey pink bra cupping his pecs "There, that looks a lot better" Laxus said smirking

"Bastard, why don't you stop sticking your nose in my business and move the fuck out the way"" Gajeel said, purposefully tearing off the fabric and sending it towards Levy, who sat 20 feet away, in an attempt to get her to look at him 'Damned be that book' Levy had not looked up once since Max had given her those chocolates 'No, not the book, the fucker who invented reading' He thought filing 'Levy's ability to read' in the 'Most hated' file of his brain, right up there with Laxus and rust

"What did you just say to me tin man?" Laxus said, little sparks forming in the air around him

Tch "What you don't like what I got to say Scarface?" Gajeel asked baring his teeth at the other male 'This stupid ass won't be the one to get in between me and something I want' Gazille thought sucking in a breath in preparation for an Iron Dragon Roar his heart stilled for a moment when he caught the eyes of the guild master Makarov looking at the two of them

"Rust bucket I'd watch what you say" Laxus said, a strange sort of light in his eyes that wasn't totally without the promise of pain "Might not be much of you left one of these days if you don't"

"Yeah?" Gajeel said feeling his heart restart when Makarov nodded his head at him, unconcerned "What unintelligent bastard told you that?" he said as Laxus stepped closer, his arm pulling back in a fashion to strike him

"Edel! Come back here with my strawberry cake!"

"Erza, you have literally licked a hole through the fabric of this shirt" the large bird screeched, flying just above the heads of the other guild members, a piece of fabric clutched in his talons "I cannot allow such indigent behavior to continue, therefore I'm going to destroy the shirt" he said making a sharp right, heading straight for Salamander, who was back on his feet and breathing a wall of fire up to the rafters

"Edel!" Erza screamed in anger requiping three swords and throwing them at her partner cutting off his flight pattern as he made a quick right Erza tried to follow him and barreling through the crowd unfortunate guild members

'Damn it' Gajeel thought smelling fear and strawberries, the scent that always marked to presence of one Erza Scarlet, heading straight for him 'Why is Scarlet back' he thought having the good sense to transform his entire body into iron just before Titania rammed into him, knocking him over

Gajeel heard a deep laugh and saw Laxus stare down at him genuine mirth in his eyes "Well this'll kill two birds with one stone" he said raising a hand and sending an electrically charged wave to the Iron Dragon Slayer

"Erza-sama, I am sorry, but this is for your own good" the bird screamed cutting in between Macao and Elfman (busy having an arm wrestling contest that Macao was clearly losing)

"Well Shit!" Gajeel yelled feeling an unbelievably strong magnetic pull tethering him to the ground

"Forgive me" Edel flew to Salamander letting the cloth drop. It zoomed out of its intended direction, heading backwards towards the two males

"Muhuhuwahahahah-what the-?" Laxus said pulling off the shirt that had attached itself to his face "Ehe, look Blacktin, this shirt looks more your size" he said holding up so Gajeel could see

"Straruberryyy!" Erza uttered an unearthly shriek head butting the grandson to the guild master "Oh! Kami be praised!" Erza said joyously sitting on top of a barely conscious Laxus, blood squirting from both of their foreheads. She buried her face into the fabric, taking deep calming breaths.

"Gihihihihihihi" Gajeel said from his spot on the ground "Dumbass got what he deserved" he said, feeling the pull weaken enough for him to transform back into his true form 'And now to speak my shrimp's language' he thought getting up and looking around Shadow Gear's table for her

"Heh retard, look over by the door" Laxus said gruffly pushing Erza off of him

Gajeel barely caught the sight of two guild members, one with blue hair, another with blond walking out the guild's entrance "Fucking Bunny Girl!" Gajeel cursed feeling the fragile book he'd kept in his possession crumple

Laxus let out a dry laugh "Blondie has us both beat" he commented catching the eye of Fried and walking towards him "but don't worry kid, she'll choose me soon enough" he said flicking Gajeel off as he went

Gajeel felt a small smile splay across his mouth as he imagined Laxus being dipped in acid 'Asshole has a point though' he thought glaring down at the precious little book 'This alone won't win me Levy' he thought searching out Lily who appeared at his side 'But it's a start'

"So, I'm guessing between Erza mauling you and Laxus trying to get you to put on a shirt you weren't able to give the book to Levy-chan?" Gajeel sent him a look and Pantherlily just grinned at him "Alright, I'll stop teasing, but what's got you all mad now?"

"She'd rather be with Bunny Girl than me" Gajeel said walking to the bar and ordering a plate of food from Mirajane "between her friends and Dreydar I need all the time I can get with my Pipsqueak" he said whispering down to his partner

Lily just smiled seeing the book still grasped in Gajeel's hands 'Dense. So dense. I'm not sure he fully realizes just how much time he could spend wither if they went on a mission together' he thought to himself sending a look to Mirajane, who merely winked at him, handing Gajeel his plate

"Pancakes" she said solemnly placing the plate that held large helpings of bacon and eggs on it and walking to the other side of the bar to cook for another customer

Gajeel just look at her confused for a moment and then shrugged it off shoveling his food into his mouth

Lily just nodded it was their code word for when they couldn't talk about their plans 'I wonder what the infamous Mirajane has cooked up' Lily thought grinning 'well no matter, she'll tell me soon enough'

* * *

><p>To all my readers who also follow the Ao No Exorcist (I'm in fuckin' love with this, I'm just sad that it's realatively new) I'm kinda really hungry to see a lot of pairings in this (One in particular that NO ONE'S writing about) Any nay or yay sayers to maybe, a few Boc and Shimei, Shura and Yukio, or Izumo and Rin one-shots (Be warned that my one shots have a tendency of becoming full fledged chapter stories)<p>

**Review**, or else..well…I don't know, but I'll be sad. And that's not cool.


	6. You Make Me Feel So

Ahhhhh sorry this took so long to get out, but between the start of school and vacation, I haven't had too much time to sit and write. but no worries though, I plan on finishing this fic, no matter what, right now I'm putting all of my attentions on this and From Iron to Fluff, so my Lev/Gaz stories are at the top of my list

Also to cherryluffle:  
>Hmmm, maybe a crack one-shot, but as far as starting a new long chaptered fic,I don't plan on doing that until I complete this andor FITF. sorry to disappoint -_-;

* * *

><p><strong>CH 6<br>"You Make Me Feel So…"**

"How is this supposed to help?"

"Lily just trust me" Mirajane whispered tapping her forehead lightly "I know guys, if he sees this side of her it'll show him she's not just innocent untouchable Levy-chan" she said giggling and running a pale hand through her white hair "And it'll be fun to tease him a bit"

"I'm starting to wonder if you only came up with this idea just to frustrate Gajeel even further" Pantherlily said sighing and shaking his head

"It's all to help the budding couple along" Mira said smiling at the small exceed "So, just head over with Lisanna and Wendy now, I'll make sure Gajeel-kun knows where to go" The black exceed gave her a determined nod and hopped off the bar stool to join the two females, heading home for the night

Mirajane leaned her arms on the counter of the bar seeing the little panther run to catch up with the others 'Lily's such a good friend' she thought peering around the fairly empty guild for her target 'Ah, there he is' she thought seeing the mass of spiky hair snatching bulletins from the mission board 'Perfect' she thought happily scrubbing a pot as she watched him 'Operation: Gajeel has the hots for Levy, times ten!...Begin' she narrated internally, seeing the Iron Dragon Slayer's piercing gaze zero in on the bar

"Oi. Where's Lily, I got some missions" Gajeel Redfox said holding up a hand full of crumpled papers as he walked up to the transformation mage

"Pantherlily?" Mira said in her sweetest, most innocent voice while she schooled her features to show slight confusion "I thought...well Erza came over and they talked" she said seeing Gajeel's eyes going slightly wide "She left with Lily in her arms a few minutes ago" Gajeel's expression turned sour

"Do you know where Scarlet took my cat?" he asked a crazed look in his eyes

"Um, she mentioned she wanted Lily over, so they're probably over at Fairy Hills" Mira said seeing him take the bait easily

"Thanks"he grunted before stuffing the papers into his pockets and sprinting out the door

"Too easy" Mira mumbled sending him a sly glance as he left

"Tsk. Tsk. I suppose you're at it again, huh?" Cana Albarn said walking up to the bar and resting her barrel of beer on the counter

"Whatever do you mean?" Mira asked leaning an arm on the counter

"Don't give me that" Cana said taking another swig of her drink "I know when the Shadow Manipulator starts to move" she said giving a dry sort of laugh when Mira gave her a weak glare "Although, if I'm being honest I gotta say, I'm surprised you're focusing on Gajeel and not Lisanna" she said running a hand through her wavy brown hair

"Things have come up" Mira said casually looking over at the table Natsu was sitting at "The person who I thought would be her perfect match, suddenly, wasn't" she said a bit sadly "But it's alright, as soon as I see someone right for my little sister, I'll start to move again but in the mean time-"

"In the mean time you're busy making Fairy Tail's Blacksteel your little plaything?" Cana supplied, draping a tanned arm across her ever present barrel

Mira sighed sending her friend a slightly piteous look "Cana, I'm sorry, but what happened between you and Macao was bound to happen, whether or not I interfered" Mira said softly laying a hand over Cana's, an act of sympathy

Cana's cheeks flared a light pink "Bah, like I wanted to be Romeo's step mommy anyways" she said taking a long swig from her barrel "No, I wanted to ask about you" Cana said giving Mirajane a serious look "Fancy anyone lately?"

"No one in particular"

"Gray? He's dependable" Cana giggled tapping her nose lightly "and has a great body"

"I'm not really interested"

"Wakaba?" Cana fished tapping her fingers on the counter

"No, he's a bit too old for my tastes" Mira said grinning playfully "Maybe you should consider him, he seems to be around the age you tend to go for"

Cana glared at her, an act that was lost behind her guilty smile "What can I say? Experience is nice" she said grinning wildly "Bixlow Then? Tattoos can be sexy"

"Ahh, no, I honestly don't fancy anyone right now" Mira said holding her hands in front of her

Cana sent her a predatory grin "Wanna see if you got anyone in particular in your future?"

Mira raised a delicate eyebrow at the other woman who simply held up a pack of well used tarot cards "You do know that as soon as you show someone their fortune, they have a chance of changing it"

"Oh come on, Fairy Tail's demon is afraid of knowing what the future _may _hold?" Cana said scoffing "Of all things to fear" Cana shook her head and smirked at the other girl "Consider this a game of what ifs"

Mirajane set her gaze to take in all of the guild most of which were gone or passed out on the floor 'It's no big deal right?' she thought pursing her lips as she stared at the innocent looking cards 'A game of what ifs, a change of pace, what might happen versus what always does…' Mira let a small smile grace her lips "Fine, I accept your challenge"

"Perfect" Cana said grinning "I've always wanted to read your love fortune" she said quickly spreading out her cards "Even if this fortune may change, it's always nice to know what could have been" she spread out the cards in front of the barmaid "Pick"

**xxXXXxx**

'Damn it all' Gajeel thought digging his metal tipped hands into the bark if the branch he was currently sitting on 'Of course, she took him here of all places' he thought angrily gouging out a hand hold in to the tree 'Fuck, as soon as I see Lily I swear I'm busting in' he thought peering into the windows where Lily's scent was strongest "Weak ass alarm magic be damned" he grumbled peering into the window closest to him

The sound of upbeat music was thumping throughout the entire building, along with giggling and clapping that was happening just a second too late to keep with the beat. 'What the hell is going on in there' Gajeel thought seeing figures and glowing splotches moving through the dark windows. He decided to get closer.

**xxXXXxx  
>Five Minutes Earlier<br>xxXXXxx**

"Aha, come on Levy, it's a sleepover! You gotta let loose a little" an excited Lucy said over the sound of the thumping music, breaking open a glow stick, and pouring the material into the tube of bubble soap she held in her right hand

Levy smiled at her friend feeling a tug on her hand as Wendy shyly gave her a green glow stick and a tube of bubble soap 'She's so sweet' Levy thought seeing Wendy retreat back to where Charlie and Happy sat in the unlit room "Um, Let loose? What do you mean?"

"Hrm" Lucy mumbled, examining her fellow bookworm "Well, I suppose the fact that you aren't sleeping yet is a good start" she said tapping her fingers against her chin "What about dancing?" she said snapping her fingers "You almost never dance"

Levy felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment 'But I always feel so…gauche when I dance…' she thought fiddling with the glow stick "..I'm not that great at it" Levy mumbled seeing Lily walk up to her

"Let me help you with that" he said taking the bright green object and making a clean slice at the top "You looked like you needed the help" he said dodging the glowing bubbles Lucy tried to stick him with

"Ah, Thank you Lily" Levy said happily pouring and mixing the substance into her tube of bubble soap "Um, so are you staying for the whole sleepover?" Levy asked pulling out her bubble wand and blowing 'Man Evergreen had a really great idea with these glow-in-the-dark bubbles' Levy thought seeing small groups of girls filling the air around them with the glowing splotches and giggling when they popped

"Yeah" Pantherlily said his tail swishing back and forth a bit as Laki sent a wave of pink bubbles to cover his back. Lily cursed grumbling lowly about how long it would take for him to the substance out of his fur

Levy sent him a pitying smile, using her nightshirt to wipe at his back "Doesn't seem like you're enjoying our sleepover too much"

"Well, it's…different" Lily offered lamely, peering around the obscured room "And I'm not exactly looking forward to washing this stuff out of my fur" Lily said looking over to the stereo where his rival and Juvia were speaking to each other

"Juvia brought her special mix of Gray-sama's sound bites just for tonight's sleepover"

"That's nice but it's not _music_" a slightly exasperated voice told her ruffling up his feathers "It's just..that's just the stripper saying random things"

Juvia frowned, looking down at the CD she held in her hand and back at the bird, uncomprehending "But Juvia likes this music"

Edel let out a frustrated sigh "People speaking is not music" the bird said almost yelling

"But the rap music you like is just people speaking, right Edel-kun?"

The bird let out an unholy shriek, his short fuse being light "No! It's not like my-"

"Edel" a grinning Pantherlily said running up to his rival "Juvia, what's..wrong?" he asked distractedly, seemingly focused on something near the window

"Juvia just wanted to listen to Gray-sama's beautiful voice"

"Ahha well" Lucy stated, smiling at the blue haired mage "If you play your CD maybe everyone else will love it and want to listen to Gray as well" she sent a not so secret wink to Pantherlily who simply started grinning like a mad cat

Juvia let a look of horror pass across her face as she clutched the disk to her chest "Juvia will never let anyone listen to Gray-sama's sacred musical voice" she said forcefully looking around to see if anyone would challenge her authority

Edel let out a scratchy 'thank god' before he flew over to Erza, who was having a bubble blowing war with Bisca

"You know you should probably go hide your mix before the other find out you have it" Pantherlily said convincingly nodding his head "Don't worry we won't tell anyone that you have something so precious, right Lucy, Levy" the other two girls nodded their heads

Juvia's blue eyes teared up a bit and she enveloped all three of them in a tight hug "Juvia is lucky to have such good friends" she said before hurrying off to her room to hoard her disc

"Sooo" Lucy drawled shuffling through a stack of disks on top of the large stereo system "I think it's time for some dance music" she said the upbeat rock music suddenly cutting off and being replaced with the sound of a woman singing 'la la la la la'

Levy groaned through the sound sending Lucy an accusing look "I hate you. You know I love this song"

Lucy sent her an innocent look feigning confusion before she dragged the smaller girl into the circle of females that began grinding and riving in time to the song

"Hah. Looks like you actually got her to do it, huh?" Lily turned to his left seeing a smug Mirajane watching Levy with her hands twined together above her head, her hips riving and twisting with the beat of the song, around the edge of the grouping of similarly dancing girls "she's actually not that bad" Mira commented, grinning widely as she spied a dark blob near the window

Lily let a pleased snort escape his mouth, following the new direction she was looking in "Seems like Gajeel'd agree with you" he thought setting a paw to his forehead "You're really horrible you know. Now this is all he's gonna think about every time he sees her"

Mira let a full blown grin cover her face "Perfect. Now maybe he'll actually have enough of a hard-on to try something a little brash"

Lily sent her a calculating glance, trying to smother his roiling laughter that was begging to be released "But he's actually pretty trepid. I think this will only serve to make things awkward if she ever sees it"

Mira lowered her crazed gaze to him, as the song's electronic beats thrummed through the air "Well, if she does 'see it' that means I'll be halfway to completing our goal"

Lily barked out his laughter, most of which was swallowed by the sound of the music and clapping of the girls that trying to echo the song "You know when I recruited you, it wasn't just to get Gajeel laid"

"I know. That's only half of the goal" she said winking at the exceed before she skipped over to her sister and Erza hips and lower back curving and swaying with the others

Lily shook his head at the girl, wondering if she might have another goal in mind for his partners he felt a light thump reverberate through the floor of the building that didn't match up with the bass that was shaking the place 'Oh Gajeel…' he thought standing on the stereo and looking out the window, seeing a shrouded figure moving around in the darkness 'That looked like it hurt' and suddenly a loud siren was going off and the Matron was yelling from her room about impudent tenants that didn't know how to follow the rules

**xxXXXxx  
>Two minutes before<br>xxXXXxx**

In the oddly glowing haze of shadows and thumping music Gajeel saw his shrimp in an oversized button down night shirt and shorts being lead to a grouping of other Fairy Tail members. 'Sweet Jesus..' Levy had one foot planted on either side of Lucy's left leg and was making her upper torso rub against her's in the most interesting way. The song reached its apex and suddenly Lucy and Levy had their hands up coiling their bodies and rolling their hips, slowly turning themselves and compacting into a tighter circle, before bursting apart again and lining up in little trains of two and three people. Levy stood body curved, ass knocking against Lucy's thighs as the blond continued the grind train, being joined by a bottle toting Cana.

"That is so…" Gajeel vaguely noted that he was salivating at the scene unfolding before him "…damn sexy" he thought his hungry eyes drinking in and committing this image of Levy to memory, Levy, slightly sweaty, with her thin hands pushing her hair from her face and neck while she mouthed the words to the song that was playing. Seeing Levy like this excited him, it made him wonder at how it felt to Lucy, to have Levy's lithe frame, hot and writhing against his, possibly without the clothing. Gajeel felt a hunger pooling below his stomach and noted that one of Levy's buttons had fallen open, and if he were a little closer she _might _maybe be a bit exposed…

_*Crack*_

_*Thud*_

"Shit!" Gajeel jumped up from the floor and pressed himself against the tree he'd just fallen from 'Damn it damn it dammit!' was the only thing running through his head 'I need to get out of here, if Erza finds me she'll break me and feed her pet the rest of my body after it's been ripped into tiny little pieces' he said trying to convince himself it was a sense of self preservation and not a mortal case of embarrassment that was sending him running as he sped off to the direction of his house. 'Hell. If Levy saw me like this..' Gajeel felt himself blush at the thought of having to see the blue haired mage in his current, fully erect state. He felt mortified. Gajeel Redfox did not spy on girls. But um…what did he come here for again..?

'Oh damn, Lily' he thought making a U-turn and heading back for fairy hills 'I came to get my cat back from the sword bitch' Gajeel sprinted up to the front door and morphed his finger into the shape of a key, inserting it into the hole. A horn began blowing and glaringly bright red tape reading 'No Testosterone Allowed' began to envelope the door

Gajeel smacked his head and turned around, choosing to leave Lily there for the night, before heading to his home again. Gajeel grinned, bringing up the mental image of his bookworm 'I really owe Snowflake one for this, even though she probably doesn't know it' It was that night that Mirajane moved from the 'Not to be trusted' file of his brain to the 'Might be okay' section where he housed Erza and Natsu

"God I love slumber parties" was the last thing he said before entering his home

* * *

><p>O_o since when did Mira start getting her own part in this fic?<br>I. Don't. Even. K N O W.

: I guess there will now be more side coupling may haps, depends on where this fic takes itself :P  
>Bwaahhaahahahaha. Just saying. If Mira fucks with my original plan there will be at least one crack pairing (maybe two, depends on what you consider to be crack worthy :P)<p>

*spins* Ahh, my reformed, good guy version of Laxus can now have some legit backing from Manga Laxus :3  
>I mean, I ttly saw his entrance coming, but srsly, I could not have been the only person who let out a squee of joy! And then a 'le gasp' of sadness when he was out within 2 chapters (I'm totally convinced the next guild Master will be a partnership between Laxus, Mira, andor Erza)

***Oh the song was You make me feel… by Cobra Starship feat. Sabi***  
><strong>and if you liked this story please review…please…?<strong>


	7. A Haunting Gone Wrong

Ahh, I'm kinda worried about how this turned out, just because I really wanted someone to look over it an I couldn't get anyone (**Caraprincess**, I miss you, please come back ;_;)

Sooo, RL has taken over, I'm so sorry for not updating sooner, but Life is hectic now. I hate it. P.S  
>I might maybe drop a chapter or two duringafter Thanksgiving brake for both this and FITF (bhut in the mean time The Days of Fae is a nice mini-shot collection I'm doing that could hold you over between updates ^_^)

* * *

><p><strong>Ch 7<strong>  
><strong>"A Haunting gone wrong"<strong>

They were in a long rectangular corridor, the only light in the room filtering in from the skylight above their heads. One considerably shorter than the other stood rigidly in the center of the room, while the other stood leaning against the wall, arms crossed. They both had an erethral look about them, hair practically glowing in the soft light. Sounds were filtering in from the doors that lead to the corridor, laughing, screaming, noises of things breaking, all the sounds typical of the annual haunted guild at Fairy Tail.

The tallest girl pushed herself from the wall turning towards the other dark skinned girl 'Hehe, she won't know what hit her' Mirajane thought, sending Chico a thumbs up. Chico flinched and activated her magic seal, summoning a pale medium sized blob that separated into ten more intangible blobs.

"You guys know what to do" She said sending her ghosts spiraling into different directions, under various doors that led to the more populated areas of the guild. She sent up a hand to run through her platinum blond hair and looked at Mirajane, who was carefully pacing around the doors, waiting.

"That all Mira?"

"No, no, I need you to keep this up until I get my signal" Mirajane said waiving off the shorter girl

"So this _**is**_ one of those times" The girl said in a knowing voice "Heeey, hey, next time you're free try and use your plans to set me and Laxus up together"

Mira looked at the girl inquisitively, her thin pale eyebrow rising to examine her. Chico C. Hammitt had always reminded her extraordinarily of a cat. Maybe it was her tendency to watch the things she wanted with undeterred attention, maybe it was her rounded face and her constant expression of being bored with just about everything else in her life, maybe it was just the fact that she was constantly wearing some sort of cat paraphernalia. Either way, Mirajane was reminded that there was a reason why she never did this by request, there was no way you could force a cat and Laxus to love each other, it had to happen on its own. And she was not going to be the one to break it Fairy Tail's resident Kitty Cat that she wouldn't be getting what she wanted. Ever.

"Whoever said I was getting back into 'that' business again?" Mira asked with the right amount of indignation "This is just one of my usual Halloween pranks made to scare both visiting civilian and guild members alike"

Chico's small lips pursed and her face scrunched up in the same way Wendy's did when she did something wrong. "I-I'm sorry Mira, I didn't mean to assume" she said, her eyebrows drawing down "I just really wanted your help"

Mira placed a hand at the top of the girl's head, who stood clad in a bright orange tabby cat suit "It's alright Chico, if he doesn't notice you, he's probably not worth your time" Mira said seeing Lily's signal slide under one of the doors 'Not that that's really stopping me here with my latest couple' "I think you should try seeing that someone who has been watching you all along" Mira said winking at the girl before disappearing into the door which had a small slip of paper in front of it.

The other side of the door held a wildly vibrant scene. The guild was darkened and decorated to look vaguely like a labyrinth, walls of stone and aged wood creating paths all along the guild floor, all leading out to the center court, where food and drinks were sold. The guild was on a break. For most of the afternoon and the remaining night, guild members were supposed to scare visitors by any means necessary. Which differed for everyone, Elfman chose to smash though the stone walls and grunt and holler at the tamer civilians, while Natsu had taken to placing Wendy atop a wooden wall and breathing fire all around while she screamed for help (of course Happy and Charle were behind her, pulling out of the way of any real danger) It was taking Laki all she had just to keep putting up more wooden walls after Natsu destroyed them.

All in all, Mira was pleased with how this year's haunted guild turned out, although she was severely disappointed in the fact that, since Mystogun had left, there hadn't been anyone left in the guild that liked to scare other guild members besides her. Oh well. She could always start a new tradition.

Wisps of Chico's ghosts still drifted in the air, even after they'd been called back. Various civilians and guild members alike were clapping at the display she'd made them do. Mirajane eased her way into clapping taking the time to look around for her targets.

'No, that is too adorable' she thought to herself, seeing Pantherlily and Gajeel standing side by side near the edge of a cluster of people. Pantherlily had a scruffy looking black wig on and had apparently gotten his ears gauged just for tonight's occasion, knowing his partner it was probably against his will. Gajeel himself was leaning against a wall and a half eaten sword, a set of cat ears and a tail completing his outfit.

'Of course they would come as each other' Mira couldn't help the giggle that escaped her mouth. 'So that's where I'm leading her, but where is Levy' Mira scanned the crowd unsuccessfully three times before Pantherlily got her attention and pointed her over to where Lucy was. 'Oh. Right, of course she's with Lucy…..I wonder if this is all futile" she wondered idly "What a big slap in the face that would be if Levy and Lu-chan have been having a secret relationship no one knows about' Mira sent him a small smile and then released her seal to transform 'For the sake of my mission, I'll pretend like that is not a possibility'

Mira couldn't help the predatory grin that formed on her rapidly transforming face "Be ready Gajeel, after this she'll go running into your arms every time'

**xxxxxxxxxx**

"Oh, Lucy, now I look stupid, I thought you were going to be the Sherlock to my Watson"

"That's okay Levy, you still look adorable!" the blond announced throwing her arms around her tiny friend "I'm glad you chose to be Watson instead of something scary" Lucy said smiling around the zombie make-up that was caked upon her face "A legendary Detective suits you much better than..what was it that Max suggest you be?"

Levy let an easy, embarrassed smile grace her lips "He wanted me to be _'A Succubus that preys only on him'_" she quoted flippantly, admiring the hard work Lucy put in to destroying one of the only gowns that remained of her time before joining the guild. It really _was_ a beautiful dress. Maybe not now, to quite the same degree, but even through the deep gouges in the peach and salmon colored fabric, the smears of dirt and ash, even torn lace and frayed edges, the dress still spoke of finery. Lucy never told her, but Levy knew, it was one of the dresses she had destroyed after her father asked her for money, and like all the other dresses, she never threw away this one either. It pained Levy, to see that Lucy had done to her dresses the same thing that her father had done to his relationship with his daughter. She only hoped that that relationship would be easier to mend than those dresses.

Lucy let loose a charming laugh, that shouldn't have gone as well with her zombie princess attire as it did "I don't suppose that one went over well with Jet and Droy, did it?"

Levy let a sigh fall from her lips "Actually their only problem with it was that he wasn't going to 'share'" Levy said blushing a bit at the memory "Pantherlily heard and almost 'accidentally' sliced them in two with his Musica sword"

"Aww Levy that's soo cute!" Lucy squealed edging to her right to avoid a civilian whose afro was on fire "You might even have Lily pining after you!"

"Don't be ridiculous"

"Seriously! Just about every guy who works with you ends up falling for Man-eater McGarden one way or another, I wouldn't be surprised if this transcends species" Lucy said holding up a thin finger as if to prove her point

Levy sighed sending her friend an exasperated glare, there was no point in trying to convince Lucy that she was wrong when she went off on a tangent. Even if the notion of Levy being a secret seductress was one of the most improbable things anyone had ever heard, it was not an all together unattractive idea. The blond had been spouting that one out for the last month and a half, since that night at the Guild Festival, and Levy was kind of enjoying her new mysterious reputation, it at least beat the bookworm-that-never-went-out reputation that had been following her around since the age of ten.

"Hey, I think you should try getting Happy to fall for you next, then you can get him to stop helping Natsu sneak into my room" Lucy's expression changed to show a genuine sort of cheerfulness "Or Edel even. If he falls for you, then just the bat of an eye and he'd eat Happy, whichever is easier"

"You're sadistic" Levy said smirking at her best friend

"Yeah well, it's easy when you're tortured by that cat day in and day out" Lucy said seeing Levy's eyes swivel to look at her horrified "Wait..I don't mean I hate him or anything, I just-" Levy's face drained of all color and she took a couple shaky steps back before bumping into someone "I was just kidding Levy!" Lucy yelled after her. Levy had turned and bolted in the other direction

"Was it something I said?" Lucy questioned to herself beginning to take a couple steps in the direction Levy had gone, as she mowed down person after person. Something big, brown, and with long hairy legs zipped around her, crawling over the poor people Levy had knocked down in her hast. Lucy turned to her right looking around the crowded guild to see if anyone else had seen what she had. "What just?"

And then the applause started

'Of course I landed in a crowd of civilians' She thought deciding to go along with it anyways. Lucy bowed deeply and curtsied to them, enjoying their misplaced attentions.

A peal of sheer terror echoed around the dark guild. One of genuine horror.

One that Lucy recognized as Levy's.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Levy was running. And screaming. Like Book Burners Anonyms had gotten her address and was currently headed over to her apartment to see if they could host a few club activities.

Not that she really cared what she looked like to other people at that moment. She just needed to get the hell outta there.

And that's when, a strange guy with a brightly colored flaming afro was walking, cutting off Levy's route and her way to Gajeel and Pantherlily.

Lily let out an annoyed growl, and his tail began flicking in every direction. Gajeel turned to see what was wrong with his cat.

Levy's eyes went wide and she bolted to the left, stopping before a lone piece of the stone wall that helped make up the guild labyrinth.

Great, hairy legs emerged from the crowds of people.

Levy swallowed. Feeling the lump in her throat rise. It was like the budding pressure in her body decided to focus on that one point. Levy choked and sputtered in fear as the rest of its body came out. Pitch Black, with crimson markings along a bulbous, grotesque hind portion. Levy shuttered. Supressing her urge to run.

The spider circled carefully, moving more towards the left and then charging forward.

Levy squeezed her eyes shut and focused her entire being, body, magic, and all into moving forward.

"**PUSH**"

There was a strangled screech and everything tipped. Levy was half on top of the felled wall, half on the floor and she felt extremely relieved.

And then she felt it, rough, and cool, and _inhuman_ resting against her left leg. Levy screeched once more and hoisted herself to the middle of the wall covering her face with her arms she sent a solid script of fire to the arachnid's legs and felt something crumple underneath the solid stone wall. The pounding in her ears was blocking most noise and her entire frame was shaking with adrenaline. Levy was curled up in a little huddled ball for a good few seconds until she felt _something_ thumping the side of her head.

She slowly opened her eyes and peeked over to where the limb was coming from and felt her tightened muscles release. "Human. That's wonderful"

"Yeah, yeah. You know for such a little person you sure can pack a big punch when you want" a gruff voice mumbled out "Why'd you try and kill me anyways?"

"Oh" Levy felt her eyes water, recognizing the strange lump on the wall as the underside of Laxus's chin, the hand that was lightly rapping on her head a few seconds ago as his rough, scarred one. "Laxus" Levy whimpered, crawling up a few inches so she would be even further from the edge of the wall "I'm sorry, it's just there was a spider, and I-I got scared" she said extending her hands and placing them ahead of her, one of her palms resting on the side of his throat, the other, just under his left ear.

Laxus felt a small tingle go through his body at the thought of her coming to him for a change.

"I didn't even notice it was you, I panicked and tried to crush the spider, I'm so sorry if I hurt you!" she said sitting up a bit and looking at him, only a few inches away from his face.

He couldn't help the small bit of disappointment that filled him with the knowledge that she hadn't actually come looking for him on purpose, but when she flexed her soft, trembling hand against him and looked at him with those innocent, pleading eyes, he felt a rumbling, possessive growl radiate through his chest. It didn't matter the circumstances under which she came to him, as long as she kept going to him, like this, then he'd have her in no time.

"But, umm" Levy's shaking returned a bit and without any conscious decision, Laxus felt his hands working their way around her back, rubbing circles. Levy did not protest. Instead, her shaking stilled to minute tremors "I..I'm sorry to ask, but do you know if you killed it?" she asked, her bottom lip wavering slightly

"I can't really tell"

There was a muffled noise from underneath the pair that was steadfastly ignored, or in Levy's case, unheard.

Dreydar felt a light blush take root on his cheeks "Gramps put me in this wall costume, 'cause I didn't want to be here in the first place, and it's actually _made_ of stone"

"Oh…_OH_. Then maybe I should get off of you so you can breathe." Levy said her limbs preparing to push herself off. Only she didn't move.

Laxus rose what remained of his scarred eyebrow, not really minding her presence on top of him and not wanting her to leave. Even if he was dressed as a mother fucking wall.

"Umm, uh" Levy stuttered, her head falling, soft blue curls blocking his view of her face "I..am too scared to move it seems"

Laxus tried to move his arms up to her face, a movement that was blocked by the hard stone of his costume. He frowned, just beginning to notice how restricted he was. The whole of his body was under a quarter ton stone wall with only the majority of his arms and his head exposed. Laxus sighed breathily, slyly letting his index finger hook around the end of her plaid blouse, his working fingers finding warm skin as they continued their comforting movements. He felt her still a bit as if to protest and he decided that he should stop while he was ahead. Making a show of looking around he finally noticed Fried, and made the difficult choice of calling to him for help up.

**xxxAftermathxxx  
><strong>

"Hmm, how unexpected" Makarov mumbled peering down from the balcony of the second floor, to the scene in the center of the guild, where Fried and Evergreen were busy hoisting up a felled Laxus and Levy.

Towards the back of the guild stood Lily and a seething Gajeel.

Makarov let a crazed grin spread across his face. "I had no clue…that boy…." Makarov trailed off remembering Levy cling to his grandson and Laxus not pushing her away. At all.

"Who knows" The guild master whispered to himself, feeling a rush of hope for his grandson "Levy could be just what he needs"

"And I can be the one to help him get her"

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><p>So a super fail on Mira's part. Mostly bc of that flaming afro guy ;P  
>:O Gajeel has Mira and Lily on his side but Laxus has Makarov *Dun Dun Dun*<br>(cue dramatic lightning)

Annnnddd, Lev/Lax Such a fitting couple ^_^  
>(seriously guys I am soo tickling my fancies here, but **.**/ Wish I could tell you without ruining future parts of this fic. If anyone can guess who I was originally gonna pair with Laxus will get a cookie and my fan girl ramblings :P)

P.S. Frosh is adorable, she (?) and Happy would make the cutest kittens!


	8. Just Another Day

Okay, so I've had this done since January (don't hate me ;_;) and as much as I'd love a beta for these fic updates for a second opinion, it never seems to workout :/  
>I've also been iffy on posting this without the next update :s<p>

(*****Note to Viola2909***** lol, I, for some reason, get the feeling that you aren't familiar with Gazille's character at all if you feel abuses aren't necessary, and sorry to have offended you with my mother-fucking-Teresa comment, but this is how people actually speak, and it's something I, as an author, could see him saying. Call it a conflict in creative perspectives or what have you but I actually enjoy writing like that and I find it stunning that that was all it took 'cross the line' into offensive territory.)

Ahh, and to the **_annon_**, no, it originally was not going to be Mira and Lax (Lax and Lev was my maybe couple, but they don't count:P) It was originally going to be Lisanna and Laxus 8D (but the plot changed a bit XD)

* * *

><p><strong>Ch 8.<br>"Just Another Day"**

"But really, why would I need a body guard just to translate some scrolls?" Levy huffed, as she trekked down the rock riddled path, hitching her pack up further on to her shoulder. God, why exactly had she decided to pack so much for this mission?

The blond shrugged, snatching her pack and tossing it over his shoulder like it weighed no more to him than a fly did to a jumbo jet "Gramps has always been one to blow safety measures out of proportion, at least when it comes to unfamiliar contractors from outside Fiore" He said sending her a playful smirk when she turned and tried to steal her pack back. "It was probably him just being careful about any potential setups. You can't blame him, we've had a lot of those lately."

"M-my bag!" Levy whined hopelessly, even with her arms held aloft her digits barely cleared his shoulders. "I can carry it Laxus" she pouted, tasting a lie in her mouth and the residual burn on her cheeks that always accompanied the wounding of her pride.

"Right, right, I just want a go at it" Dreydar said spinning her around and setting them back on course. "In any case, if we keep stopping on this trail we'll be stalled another day" said Laxus, following suit behind the blue haired mage "Unless, of course, you _want_ to spend another day out here with me" he said, a playfulness seeping into his tone when he noticed her hands ball up "You should know, _Miss McGarden"_ he said in a way to mimic the way she sometimes addressed him "this is not an offer for you to have your way with me-"

"Oh shut up" Levy snapped. She hated being teased. And it didn't help that all of her mission partners lately seemed to make teasing her their favorite past time. "You're…..incorrigible and more than a little malignant" she said marching along the mountain path with her arms crossed "And yes, I purposefully picked out words you don't know the meaning to so_ I_ can tease _you_ for a change"

Laxus's booming laugh sounded from behind her "You're wrong about that one, I looked up incorrigible after you called me that last week. You know, you can be pretty mean when you want kid. But I really have no clue what that other word means.."

'Stupid' Levy felt an easy comfortable smile bloom on her face.

She was rather dreading this five day mission the master had specifically requested they take together. It was because she and Laxus hadn't ever been partners on a mission before….well to be honest it was a very small part of it. Mostly she had come to various conclusions of what might happen based on a rather dramatic and convoluted book she'd read last week which involved the paying off of the hotel owner to only offer rooms to couples and a rather unlikely chain of events that would eventually lead to both of them being stuck in the wilderness, covered in two weeks worth of mud with only a shallow lake to bathe in. Thankfully **nothing** like that had happened.

Laxus had been…well, as much of a gentleman any Fairy Tail mage _could _be. And despite the constant barrage of teasing, she was actually enjoying the mission to the land of Seven. Even if the mission was to a mountain village situated just past the boarder of Fiore on a particularly narrow traveler's path that held little more than pine trees and petty thieves, it was a lot more pleasant than she had guessed it would be.

"It means you are terminally _**evil**_"

She heard a scoff from behind her, and had to settle on imagining his face. The rocky path had taken on a steep incline and in the twilight it was becoming harder and harder to see which rocks were loose enough to send her tumbling.

"Speaking of incurable, you should really find out if your shortness is a genetic disease or just a stroke of _incredibly_ bad luck"

Levy couldn't help herself. She whirled on him in a fit of pique. And in the same instant she had sent her arm out to swat at him she felt the stomach lurching sensation of moving to step where no ground existed. A scream tore through her throat. She shut her eyes and willed solid script to form despite her screaming. Instead she felt the world tip to the left and had the sickening realization that the world might just be rushing up to meet her, skull first.

She felt a hand clamp onto her thin wrist in an odd position, with too much pressure for it to have been completely controlled. She was flung to the side before she could really register what was happening. Her side thumped against the rock of the mountain but she didn't really feel it, not with her brain still bouncing around in her skull.

"You really need to learn to watch where you're stepping" He huffed at her. Seeing her in a half sitting position with her hand cradled to her chest. "Did I hurt you?"

Levy shook her head in a negative, lost in her new found apprehension for rocks and ledges.

"Levy?" She heard a distant voice call before Laxus's face was shoved right up against hers "I asked if you were alright."

"….Gah!" She squeaked cracking her head against a tree in her hasty retreat "Owwww." She whined, rubbing her head and opening one eye to see Laxus sending her an amused look "What?" she asked feeling her shakiness from her almost-fall still coursing through her body.

"You're blushing." He announced matter-of-factly "And I'm sure it has everything to do with me making you nervous" he said sending her that familiar playful smirk

Levy scowled up at him "You're delusional." She said standing up "And I'll be sure to send you my hospital bill if my injury becomes a tumor, benign or otherwise." she stood up and began marching ahead of him. 'Seriously that guy can be so…infuriating' she thought turning around and sighing "Thank you, by the way, for saving me from falling. I really do appreciate it."

"No need to thank me, kid, I mean you're just so helpless, it's to be expected"

Levy felt her blush of indignation come back, full force "S-shut up!"

"I wasn't the one who slipped an' right after, cracked my head against a tree" he said rubbing the top of her head in a gesture that had become both familiar and diminutive over the last few days "It's okay though, as long as you stay within a three meter radius of me, then I should be able to keep you from killing yourself" he stated as they continued in their way back to the guild

"I hate you."

"You're a horrible liar."

* * *

><p>.Kimbra.<br>you should love her too.  
>(her music is making me <em>need<em> to write again)


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